---
title: So vast was the slaughter made by these sheep and so great the terro… — Irish Fairy Tales · tree and pragmatics
description: So vast was the slaughter made by these sheep and so great the terror they caused, that no one could stand before them, but by great good luck there was a wood at hand, and the men of Ulster, warriors and princes and charioteers, were forced to climb up the trees, and they roosted among the branches
---

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# Irish Fairy Tales, Chapter VI, sentence 13

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
So vast was the slaughter made by these sheep and so great the terror they caused, that no one could stand before them, but by great good luck there was a wood at hand, and the men of Ulster, warriors and princes and charioteers, were forced to climb up the trees, and they roosted among the branches like great birds, while the venomous sheep ranged below bleating terribly and tearing up the ground.

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**Who acts:** vast, sheep, one, great good luck, men, venomous sheep · **What happens:** be, make, cause, stand, force, climb up · **To what, where:** slaughter, terror, wood, hand, men, trees

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This is a sentence of «Irish Fairy Tales» by James Stephens, Chapter VI. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (vast, sheep, one, great good luck), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

<!-- .note-en -->
**Parsed by Mova, not checked by a teacher.** This tree is Mova's own parse (the `en` model, on the CPU, when the site is built); it may be wrong.

## The tree {#tree}

```conllu
# sent_id = book:pg2892:77:13
# text = So vast was the slaughter made by these sheep and so great the terror they caused, that no one could stand before them, but by great good luck there was a wood at hand, and the men of Ulster, warriors and princes and charioteers, were forced to climb up the trees, and they roosted among the branches like great birds, while the venomous sheep ranged below bleating terribly and tearing up the ground.
1	So	so	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
2	vast	vast	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	slaughter	slaughter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	made	make	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	acl	_	_
7	by	by	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	these	this	DET	DT	Number=Plur|PronType=Dem	9	det	_	_
9	sheep	sheep	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
11	so	so	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
12	great	great	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	xcomp	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	terror	terror	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
15	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	nsubj	_	_
16	caused	cause	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	14	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	22	punct	_	_
18	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	22	mark	_	_
19	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	20	det	_	_
20	one	one	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	nsubj	_	_
21	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	22	aux	_	_
22	stand	stand	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	16	ccomp	_	_
23	before	before	ADP	IN	_	24	case	_	_
24	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	22	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	34	punct	_	_
26	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	34	cc	_	_
27	by	by	ADP	IN	_	30	case	_	_
28	great	great	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	30	amod	_	_
29	good	good	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	30	amod	_	_
30	luck	luck	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	34	nsubj	_	_
31	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	32	expl	_	_
32	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	34	cop	_	_
33	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	34	det	_	_
34	wood	wood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	conj	_	_
35	at	at	ADP	IN	_	36	case	_	_
36	hand	hand	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	34	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
37	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	51	punct	_	_
38	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	51	cc	_	_
39	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	40	det	_	_
40	men	man	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	51	nsubj:pass	_	_
41	of	of	ADP	IN	_	42	case	_	_
42	Ulster	Ulster	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	40	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
43	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	44	punct	_	_
44	warriors	warrior	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	40	conj	_	_
45	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	46	cc	_	_
46	princes	prince	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	40	conj	_	_
47	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	48	cc	_	_
48	charioteers	charioteer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	40	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
49	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	40	punct	_	_
50	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	51	aux:pass	_	_
51	forced	force	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	parataxis	_	_
52	to	to	PART	TO	_	53	mark	_	_
53	climb	climb	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	51	xcomp	_	_
54	up	up	ADP	RP	_	53	compound:prt	_	_
55	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	56	det	_	_
56	trees	tree	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	53	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
57	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	60	punct	_	_
58	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	60	cc	_	_
59	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	60	nsubj	_	_
60	roosted	roost	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	51	parataxis	_	_
61	among	among	ADP	IN	_	63	case	_	_
62	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	63	det	_	_
63	branches	branch	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	60	obl	_	_
64	like	like	ADP	IN	_	66	case	_	_
65	great	great	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	66	amod	_	_
66	birds	bird	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	63	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
67	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	72	punct	_	_
68	while	while	SCONJ	IN	_	72	mark	_	_
69	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	71	det	_	_
70	venomous	venomous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	71	amod	_	_
71	sheep	sheep	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	72	nsubj	_	_
72	ranged	range	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	60	conj	_	_
73	below	below	ADP	IN	_	74	case	_	_
74	bleating	bleating	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	72	obl	_	_
75	terribly	terribly	ADV	RB	_	72	advmod	_	_
76	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	77	cc	_	_
77	tearing	tear	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	72	conj	_	_
78	up	up	ADP	RP	_	77	compound:prt	_	_
79	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	80	det	_	_
80	ground	ground	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	77	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
81	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | vast | the slaughter but a wood |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **make** | participle |  | the slaughter but a wood *not said here* |  |  |  | by this sheep; great *property* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset |
| 3 | **cause** | past | sheep | the terror *not said here* |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **stand** | could | no one |  |  |  | before sheep |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent before they=Location |
| 5 | **is a** | past | great good luck | a wood |  | hand |  |  | tree rules |
| 6 | **force** | past · passive |  | the men of Ulster and warriors and princes and charioteers |  |  |  |  | vn urge-58.1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: subject=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 7 | **climb up** | to-infinitive | the men of Ulster and warriors and princes and charioteers *not said here* | the trees |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Initial\_Location tree=Theme |
| 8 | **roost** | past | men *= man* |  |  | the branches like great birds |  |  | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme among branch=Location |
| 9 | **range** | participle | the venomous sheep |  |  | bleating |  | terribly *property* | vn meander-47.7 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme |
| 10 | **tear up** | gerund | the venomous sheep *not said here* | the ground |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Initial\_Location ground=Theme |

<!-- .note -->
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

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**Text:** «Irish Fairy Tales» by James Stephens, Project Gutenberg book 2892 (public domain in the USA). **Tree:** Mova's own parse, Elamur Cosmic License. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), the chapter read in order.

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